Determining the user&#39;s current preferred manner in communicating with user

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program product for suggesting a preferred manner in communicating with a user. Communications (e.g., electronic mail messages, instant messages, social media posts) with a user from a plurality of other users and responses thereto are monitored. A communication history is then created storing the monitored communications and responses thereto. The communication history is then analyzed to determine a preferred manner in communicating with the user based on various factors (e.g., the types of communications and responses thereto, the times of communications and responses thereto, the topics of communications and responses thereto). In one embodiment, such an analysis utilizes natural language processing and sentiment analysis. In this manner, the user will be contacted in the appropriate way thereby allowing the user to avoid potential interruptions and increase the user&#39;s productivity as well as to address matters (e.g., urgent matters) appropriately.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to communications, and moreparticularly to determining the user's current preferred manner incommunicating with the user.

BACKGROUND

There are many different ways to communicate with a user, such as viae-mail, a telephone call, text messaging, instant messaging, socialmedia posts, etc. However, some users have a preferred way to becontacted, such as based on their work style, traveling schedule,working hours, etc. For instance, a user may prefer to be contacted viae-mail as opposed to being contacted by a telephone call or instantmessaging during work hours as they do not want to be interrupted toreduce their productivity, especially if the user is in a meeting ordelivering a presentation. Other users may instead prefer beingcontacted via a telephone call since issues can be addressed muchfaster.

At times though, the user's preferred manner in contacting the user isnot followed. For example, the user could be in a meeting delivering apresentation. If the user's preferred manner in communicating with theuser (e.g., only via e-mail) is not followed during the meeting, thenundesirable results may occur. For instance, if the user is screensharing with customers during the meeting and the user receives aninstant message with confidential information from a colleague duringthe meeting, then such confidential information may be disclosed topeople outside the user's company.

Currently, the user may indicate the user's preferred manner incontacting the user, such as via the user's social networking profile.However, the contact method indicated in the profile may not beaccurate. It may not take into consideration the user's currentsituation (e.g., in a meeting) or the reasons (e.g., urgent matter) asto why someone is contacting the user. For example, if a person iscontacting the user concerning an urgent matter, the user may not beable to respond as quickly as desired if the person contacted the userby e-mail as opposed to a text message.

As a result, it is important to determine the user's current preferredmanner in communicating with the user so as to indicate the appropriatecontact method to avoid interruptions and increase the user'sproductivity as well as to address matters (e.g., urgent matters)appropriately.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for suggesting apreferred manner in communicating with a user comprises monitoringcommunications with the user from a plurality of other users andresponses thereto. The method further comprises creating a communicationhistory storing the monitored communications and responses thereto. Themethod additionally comprises analyzing, by a processor, thecommunication history to determine a preferred manner in communicatingwith the user based on types of the communications and responsesthereto, times of the communications and responses thereto and topics ofthe communications and responses thereto.

Other forms of the embodiment of the method described above are in asystem and in a computer program product.

The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technicaladvantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject ofthe claims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention of acommunication system configured in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention of a hardwareconfiguration of a communications analyzer configured in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for determining and suggesting to theuser a preferred manner in communicating with the user in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention comprises a method, system and computer programproduct for suggesting a preferred manner in communicating with a user.In one embodiment of the present invention, communications (e.g., phonecalls, electronic mail messages, instant messages, short message servicemessage, social media posts) with a user from a plurality of other usersand responses thereto are monitored. A communication history is thencreated storing the monitored communications and responses thereto. Thecommunication history is then analyzed to determine a preferred mannerin communicating with the user based on one or more of the following:the types of communications and responses thereto, the urgency of thecommunications and responses thereto, the times of communications andresponses thereto, the topics of communications and responses thereto,the frequency of communications and responses thereto, the schedule ofthe user at the time of the responses as well as the user availabilityat the time of the responses. In one embodiment, such an analysisutilizes natural language processing and sentiment analysis. In thismanner, the user will be contacted in the appropriate way therebyallowing the user to avoid potential interruptions and increase theuser's productivity as well as to address matters (e.g., urgent matters)appropriately.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the mostpart, details considering timing considerations and the like have beenomitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

Referring now to the Figures in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates an embodimentof the present invention of a communication system 100 for practicingthe principles of the present invention in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. Communication system 100 includes computingdevices 101A-101C (identified as “Computing Device A,” “Computing DeviceB,” and “Computing Device C,” respectively, in FIG. 1) connected to aserver 102 via a network 103. Computing devices 101A-101C maycollectively or individually be referred to as computing devices 101 orcomputing device 101, respectively. It is noted that both computingdevices 101 and the users of computing devices 101 may be identifiedwith element number 101.

Computing device 101 may be any type of computing device (e.g., portablecomputing unit, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptopcomputer, mobile phone, navigation device, game console, desktopcomputer system, workstation, Internet appliance and the like)configured with the capability of connecting to network 103 andconsequently communicating with other computing devices 101 and server102.

Computing devices 101 may be configured to send and receive text-basedmessages in real-time during an instant messaging session. Any user ofcomputing devices 101 may be the creator or initiator of an instantmessage (message in instant messaging) and any user of computing devices101 may be a recipient of an instant message. Furthermore, any user ofcomputing devices 101 may be able to create, receive and send e-mails.Additionally, any user of computing devices 101 may be able to send andreceive text messages, such as Short Message Services (SMS) messages. Inaddition, any user of computing devices 101 (e.g., mobile phone) may becapable of initiating or receiving a telephone call over network 103(e.g., circuit-switched telephone network, Wi-Fi network, an IEEE 802.11standards network).

Network 103 may be, for example, a local area network, a wide areanetwork, a wireless wide area network, a circuit-switched telephonenetwork, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network,Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) network, a WiFi network, an IEEE802.11 standards network, various combinations thereof, etc. Othernetworks, whose descriptions are omitted here for brevity, may also beused in conjunction with system 100 of FIG. 1 without departing from thescope of the present invention.

In communication system 100, computing devices 101A-101C may include asoftware agent, referred to herein as the Instant Messaging (IM) client104A-104C, respectively. Instant messaging clients 104A-104C maycollectively or individually be referred to as instant messaging clients104 or instant messaging client 104, respectively. Furthermore, server102 may include a software agent, referred to herein as the InstantMessaging (IM) server 105. IM client 104 provides the functionality tosend and receive instant messages. As messages are received, IM client104 presents the messages to the user in a dialog window (or IM window).Furthermore, IM client 104 provides the functionality for computingdevice 101 to connect to the IM server 105 which provides thefunctionality of distributing the instant messages to the IM clients 104associated with each of the sharing users.

Computing device 101A-101C may further include a software agent,referred to herein as the e-mail client agent 106A-106C, respectively.E-mail client agents 106A-106C may collectively or individually bereferred to as e-mail client agents 106 or e-mail client agent 106,respectively. Furthermore, server 102 may include a software agent,referred to herein as the e-mail server agent 107. E-mail client agent106 enables the user of computing device 101 to create, send and receivee-mails. E-mail server agent 107 is configured to receive e-mailmessages from computing device 101 and distribute the received e-mailmessages among the one or more computing devices 101.

While the preceding discusses each computing device 101 as including anIM client 104 and an e-mail client agent 106, each computing device 101may not necessarily include each of these software agents. Furthermore,while the preceding discusses a single server 102 including the softwareagents, such as IM server 105 and e-mail server agent 107, multipleservers may be used to implement these services. Furthermore, eachserver 102 may not necessarily be configured to include all of thesesoftware agents, but only a subset of these software agents.

System 100 further includes a Short Message Service (SMC) center 108configured to relay, store and forward text messages, such as SMSmessages, among computing devices 101 through network 103.

System 100 further includes a social network server 109, which may be aweb server configured to offer a social networking and/or microbloggingservice, enabling users of computing devices 101 to send and read otherusers' posts. “Posts,” as used herein, include any one or more of thefollowing: text (e.g., comments, sub-comments and replies), audio, videoimages, etc. Social network server 109 is connected to network 103 bywire or wirelessly. While FIG. 1 illustrates a single social networkserver 109, it is noted for clarity that multiple servers may be used toimplement the social networking and/or microblogging service.

System 100 further includes a unit 110, referred to herein as the“communications analyzer,” connected to network 103 via wire orwirelessly. Communications analyzer 110 is configured to analyzemonitored communications between a user 101 and other users 101 and theresponses thereto as well as determine the current preferred manner incommunicating with user 101 as discussed further below in connectionwith FIG. 3. By determining the current preferred manner incommunicating with user 101, the appropriate contact method may be usedso as to avoid interruptions, increase the user's productivity as wellas to address matters (e.g., urgent matters) appropriately. Adescription of the hardware configuration of communications analyzer 110is provided below in connection with FIG. 2.

System 100 is not to be limited in scope to any one particular networkarchitecture. System 100 may include any number of computing devices101, servers 102, networks 103, SMS centers 108, social network servers109 and communications analyzers 110.

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the presentinvention of a hardware configuration of communications analyzer 110(FIG. 1), which is representative of a hardware environment forpracticing the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, communicationsanalyzer 110 has a processor 201 coupled to various other components bysystem bus 202. An operating system 203 runs on processor 201 andprovides control and coordinates the functions of the various componentsof FIG. 2. An application 204 in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention runs in conjunction with operating system 203 andprovides calls to operating system 203 where the calls implement thevarious functions or services to be performed by application 204.Application 204 may include, for example, voice recognition software forrecognizing and translating spoken language in a phone call to text soas to analyze the text using natural language processing and sentimentanalysis; and a program for suggesting a preferred manner incommunicating with user 101 (FIG. 1) as discussed further below inconnection with FIG. 3.

Referring again to FIG. 2, read-only memory (“ROM”) 205 is coupled tosystem bus 202 and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) thatcontrols certain basic functions of communications analyzer 110. Randomaccess memory (“RAM”) 206 and disk adapter 207 are also coupled tosystem bus 202. It should be noted that software components includingoperating system 203 and application 204 may be loaded into RAM 206,which may be communications analyzer's 110 main memory for execution.Disk adapter 207 may be an integrated drive electronics (“IDE”) adapterthat communicates with a disk unit 208, e.g., disk drive. It is notedthat the program for suggesting a preferred manner in communicating withuser 101, as discussed further below in connection with FIG. 3, mayreside in disk unit 208 or in application 204.

Communications analyzer 110 may further include a communications adapter209 coupled to bus 202. Communications adapter 209 interconnects bus 202with an outside network (e.g., network 103 of FIG. 1) thereby allowingcommunications analyzer 110 to communicate with devices, such ascomputing devices 101, servers 102, SMS centers 108 and social networkservers 109.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

As stated in the Background section, there are many different ways tocommunicate with a user, such as via e-mail, a telephone call, textmessaging, instant messaging, social media posts, etc. However, someusers have a preferred way to be contacted, such as based on their workstyle, traveling schedule, working hours, etc. For instance, a user mayprefer to be contacted via e-mail as opposed to being contacted by atelephone call or instant messaging during work hours as they do notwant to be interrupted to reduce their productivity, especially if theuser is in a meeting or delivering a presentation. Other users mayinstead prefer being contacted via a telephone call since issues can beaddressed much faster. At times though, the user's preferred manner incontacting the user is not followed. For example, the user could be in ameeting delivering a presentation. If the user's preferred manner incommunicating with the user (e.g., only via e-mail) is not followedduring the meeting, then undesirable results may occur. For instance, ifthe user is screen sharing with customers during the meeting and theuser receives an instant message with confidential information from acolleague during the meeting, then such confidential information may bedisclosed to people outside the user's company. Currently, the user mayindicate the user's preferred manner in contacting the user, such as viathe user's social networking profile. However, the contact methodindicated in the profile may not be accurate. It may not take intoconsideration the user's current situation (e.g., in a meeting) or thereasons (e.g., urgent matter) as to why someone is contacting the user.For example, if a person is contacting the user concerning an urgentmatter, the user may not be able to respond as quickly as desired if theperson contacted the user by e-mail as opposed to a text message. As aresult, it is important to determine the user's current preferred mannerin communicating with the user so as to indicate the appropriate contactmethod to avoid interruptions and increase the user's productivity aswell as to address matters (e.g., urgent matters) appropriately.

The principles of the present invention provide a means for determiningand suggesting to the user the user's current preferred manner incommunicating with the user so as to indicate the appropriate contactmethod to avoid interruptions, increase the user's productivity as wellas to address matters (e.g., urgent matters) appropriately as discussedbelow in connection with FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 for determining and suggesting touser 101 (FIG. 1) a preferred manner in communicating with user 101 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-2, in step 301,communications analyzer 110 determines the user-indicated preferredmanner in communicating with user 101, such as from a user's profile(e.g., social networking profile).

In step 302, communications analyzer 110 monitors communications (e.g.,phone calls, electronic mail messages, instant messages, short messageservice message, social media posts) with user 101 (e.g., user 101A)from a plurality of other users 101 (e.g., users 101B, 101C) andresponses thereto. For example, communications analyzer 110 monitorse-mail messages sent to user 101A from users 101B, 101C as well asuser's 101A responses to these messages.

In step 303, a determination is made by communications analyzer 110 asto whether the number of monitored communications has reached athreshold (e.g., threshold number of communications, threshold number ofpeople have contacted this user 101, threshold number of people havecontacted this user 101 via one or more communication methods). Forexample, the threshold may be whether a particular number of people havecontacted this user 101 by instant messaging as opposed to e-mail by4:00 pm. In one embodiment, the threshold is user-selected.

If the number of monitored communications has not reached the threshold,then communications analyzer 110 continues to monitor communicationswith user 101 (e.g., user 101A) from a plurality of other users 101(e.g., users 101B, 101C) and responses thereto in step 302.

If, however, the number of monitored communications has reached thethreshold, then, in step 304, communications analyzer 110 creates acommunication history storing the monitored communications and responsesthereto.

In step 305, communications analyzer 110 analyzes the communicationhistory to determine the preferred manner in communicating with user 101(e.g., user 101A.). In one embodiment, the communication history may beanalyzed to determine the preferred manner in communicating with user101 based on one or more of the following: the types of communicationsand responses thereto, the urgency of the communications and responsesthereto, the times of communications and responses thereto, the topicsof communications and responses thereto, the frequency of communicationsand responses thereto, the schedule of the user at the time of theresponses as well as the user availability at the time of the responses.In one embodiment, such an analysis utilizes natural language processingand sentiment analysis.

For example, user 101 may have indicated that user 101 prefers to becontacted via e-mail; however, when people have contacted user 101 usinginstant messaging or phone calls to discuss an urgent customer issuethat needs to be resolved quickly, user 101 responds in the same mannerwithout requesting to change the contact method. Hence, it may bededuced that for urgent matters, user 101 prefers to be contacted usinginstant messaging or phone calls as opposed to the user-indicatedcontact method of e-mail. In one embodiment, communications analyzer 110may determine that a response to a communication involves an urgentmatter using natural language processing. For example, communicationsanalyzer 110 may utilize natural language processing to identifykeywords (e.g., “urgent” indicated in the text of the communication) inthe communication received by user 101. Furthermore, communicationsanalyzer 110 may determine that user 101 has not requested to change thecontact method in a response to a communication message by notidentifying certain keywords (e.g., “change,” “please e-mail meinstead”) using natural language processing when analyzing the responseto these messages. As discussed above, application 204 of communicationsanalyzer 110 may include voice recognition software that recognizes andtranslates the spoken language in a phone call to text (transcript) soas to enable communications analyzer 110 to analyze the text usingnatural language processing and sentiment analysis. As a result,communications analyzer 110 may have the ability to analyze phone callsas well as other forms of communications as discussed herein.

In another example, user 101 may respond to an e-mail message indicatingthat user 101 prefers to be contacted via instant messaging.Communications analyzer 101 may determine such a preference by user 101using sentiment analysis to determine the attitude of user 101 withrespect to being contacted in a particular manner. For instance, if user101 used the phrase “prefer to be contacted by,” then such a phrase mayindicate that user 101 prefers to be contacted in a different mannerthan the manner in which user 101 was contacted.

In another example, the determined preferred manner in communicatingwith user 101 may be based on the time of day of thecommunications/responses. For example, user 101 may respond to all typesof communications (e.g., e-mails, instant messages, phone calls) bye-mail during the work day. As a result, it may be deduced that the userprefers to be contacted via e-mail during the work day.

In a further example, the determined preferred manner in communicatingwith user 101 may be based on the topics of thecommunications/responses. In one embodiment, communications analyzer 110may determine the topic of a communication/response using naturallanguage processing by identifying keywords (e.g., sports, travel) inthe communication/response. Based on the topic of thecommunication/response, it may be determined that user 101 prefers toreceive communications in a certain manner for certain topics. Forexample, user 101 may respond via e-mail for work-related topics andhence, it may be deduced, that user 101 also prefers to receivecommunications related to work-related topics via e-mail. In anotherexample, user 101 may respond via instant messaging involving the topicof the user's children. As a result, it may be inferred that user 101prefers to receive communications via instant messaging involving thetopic of the user's children.

In another example, the determined preferred manner in communicatingwith user 101 may be based on the frequency of communications andresponses thereto. For instance, communications analyzer 110 maydetermine when user 101 receives over a certain number of instantmessages that user 101 responds to such communications via e-mail.Hence, it may be deduced that user 101 prefers to only receive e-mailswhen user 101 receives a high number of communications.

In another example, the determined preferred manner in communicatingwith user 101 may be based on the schedule of the user at the time ofthe responses. For example, communications analyzer 110 may have accessto the user's calendaring software which indicates times of meetings,vacations, etc. Based on such information, it may be determined thatuser 101 prefers to receive communications of a particular type based onthe responses to communications during those times of meetings,vacations, etc. indicated in the user's calendar. For instance,communications analyzer 110 may determine that user 101 only e-mailsduring those times blocked off for vacation no matter whether the user101 receives an e-mail, an instant message or a voice message (e.g.,voice message generated in a waveform audio file format). Hence, it maybe deduced that user 101 prefers to be contacted via e-mail duringvacation.

In a further example, the determined preferred manner in communicatingwith user 101 may be based on the user availability at the time of theresponses. For instance, as discussed above, communications analyzer 110may have access to the user's calendaring software which indicatesavailable times. Based on such information, it may be determined thatuser 101 prefers to receive communications of a particular type based onthe responses to communications during those times of availability.

In another example, communications analyzer 110 may determine that user101 prefers to receive communications of a particular type during timesof availability by using natural language processing to analyze theresponses (e.g., analyze text in an electronic mail message, analyzetranscript generated from voice communication translated by voicerecognition software). For instance, communications analyzer 110 mayutilize natural language processing to identify keywords (e.g., “preferto be contacted by e-mail”) that may indicate that the user has apreference in the manner of being contacted during those times ofavailability, where those times of availability may be directlyindicated in the response (e.g., “please feel free to call me when I amavailable which is between 2:00 pm-4:00 pm during the work week”) or asindicated in the user's calendaring software.

In step 306, a determination is made by communications analyzer 110 asto whether the determined preferred manner (e.g., prefers to receivecommunications regarding urgent matters via instant messaging or phone)in communicating with user 101 (preferred manner determined in step 305)matches the user-indicated manner (e.g., user 101 indicated to becontacted via e-mail in the social networking profile) in communicatingwith user 101 (user-indicated manner in communicating with user 101obtained in step 301).

If the determined preferred manner in communicating with user 101matches the user-indicated manner in communicating with user 101, thencommunications analyzer 110 continues to monitor communications withuser 101 (e.g., user 101A) from a plurality of other users 101 (e.g.,users 101B, 101C) and responses thereto in step 302.

If, however, the determined preferred manner in communicating with user101 does not match the user-indicated manner in communicating with user101, then, in step 307, communications analyzer 110 informs user 101that the user-indicated preferred manner in communicating with user 101does not match the determined preferred manner in communicating withuser 101 and provides user 101 with the opportunity for user 101 tochange the user-indicated preferred manner in communicating with user101, such as by updating the social networking profile.

For example, user 101 may have indicated that user 101 prefers to becontacted via e-mail in the user' profile; however, communicationsanalyzer 110 has determined that for urgent matters, user 101 prefers tobe contacted via text messaging. As a result, communications analyzer110 will inform user 101 that user 101 may want to update theuser-indicated manner in contacting user 101 as shown in the user'sprofile, such as by indicating to be contacted via text messaging forurgent matters.

In this manner, the user will be contacted in the appropriate waythereby allowing the user to avoid potential interruptions, increase theuser's productivity as well as to address matters (e.g., urgent matters)appropriately. Suggesting the preferred manner in communicating with theuser in such a manner is a non-conventional way. By using computingtechnology to determine the current preferred manner in communicatingwith the user, the user will more likely receive communications in theform as desired thereby avoiding potential interruptions, increasing theuser's productivity as well as addressing matters (e.g., urgent matters)appropriately.

Referring to FIG. 3, in step 308, a determination is made bycommunications analyzer 110 as to whether it received permission fromuser 101 to change the user-indicated preferred manner in communicatingwith user 101, such as in the user's profile.

If communications analyzer 110 did not receive permission from user 101to change the user-indicated preferred manner in communicating with user101, then communications analyzer 110 continues to monitorcommunications with user 101 (e.g., user 101A) from a plurality of otherusers 101 (e.g., users 101B, 101C) and responses thereto in step 302.

If, however, communications analyzer 110 received permission from user101 to change the user-indicated preferred manner in communicating withuser 101, then, in step 309, communications analyzer 110 updates theuser-indicated preferred manner in communicating with user 101, such asin the profile of user 101, with the determined preferred manner incommunicating with user (obtained in step 305).

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for suggesting a preferred mannerin communicating with a user, the method comprising: determining auser-indicated preferred manner in communicating with said user from asocial networking profile of said user; monitoring communications withsaid user from a plurality of other users and responses thereto, whereinsaid communications comprise phone calls, electronic mail messages,instant messages, short message service messages and social networkposts; creating a communication history storing said monitoredcommunications and responses thereto in response to a number of saidmonitored communications reaching a threshold, wherein said thresholdcomprises a threshold number of people have contacted said user via oneor more communication methods; analyzing, by a processor, saidcommunication history to determine a preferred manner in communicatingwith said user based on types of said communications and responsesthereto, times of said communications and responses thereto, urgency ofsaid communications and responses thereto, topics of said communicationsand responses thereto, a frequency of said communications and responsesthereto, a schedule of said user at a time of said responses and useravailability at said time of said responses; determining whether saiddetermined preferred manner in communicating with said user matches saiduser-indicated preferred manner in communicating with said user; andinforming said user that said determined preferred manner incommunicating with said user does not match said user-indicatedpreferred manner in communicating with said user and providing said useran opportunity for said user to change said user-indicated preferredmanner in communicating with said user by updating said socialnetworking profile in response to determining that said determinedpreferred manner in communicating with said user does not match saiduser-indicated preferred manner in communicating with said user therebyallowing said user to avoid potential interruptions, increaseproductivity of said user as well as to address matters appropriately.2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising: analyzing saidcommunication history to determine said preferred manner incommunicating with said user using natural language processing.
 3. Themethod as recited in claim 1 further comprising: providing said user anopportunity to replace said user-indicated preferred manner incommunicating with said user with said determined preferred manner incommunicating with said user in response to said determined preferredmanner in communicating with said user not matching said user-indicatedpreferred manner in communicating with said user.
 4. The method asrecited in claim 3 further comprising: updating said user-indicatedpreferred manner in communicating with said user in said socialnetworking profile of said user with said determined preferred manner incommunicating with said user.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1further comprising: analyzing said communication history to determinesaid preferred manner in communicating with said user using sentimentanalysis.
 6. The method as recited in claim 3 further comprising:determining whether permission has been received from said user tochange said user-indicated preferred manner in communicating with saiduser with said determined preferred manner in communicating with saiduser.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said user-indicatedpreferred manner in communicating with said user comprises one of thefollowing: e-mailing, instant messaging and a phone call, wherein saiddetermined preferred manner in communicating with said user comprisesone of the following: e-mailing, instant messaging and a phone call.